


You be the bird, I'll be the feather

by indiecupcake



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), Marvel (Comics)
Genre: Cuddling, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-08
Updated: 2013-03-08
Packaged: 2017-12-04 15:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/712356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiecupcake/pseuds/indiecupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Kate and Clint just need to be closer to each other, so they'll crawl into his bed, curled up in each other, and sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You be the bird, I'll be the feather

She wasn't really a cuddler, ask anyone. But this was different. The warm body pressed along hers was more than just closeness, more than just comfort. It meant that Clint, the most important person in her life, was safe. That despite all his recklessness, despite his duty to others eclipsing his sense of self preservation, he had made it home tonight.

It wasn't a regular thing. Kate had her own room, her own bed, her own life-- but sometimes they both needed the reassurance. The first time was after he got out of the hospital for the tape thing. He insisted he didn't need help home, but she insisted anyway. She wasn't very useful, and by the time they got to his apartment, they were both exhausted. Rather than watching a movie on the couch like they had planned, they both passed out in his bed. When they woke up, they were the closest they could get to spooning without aggravating any of Clint's injuries ("Coffee?" he asked. "Ten more minutes" she replied, as she cuddled closer)

After that it became a bit of a habit. Not after every mission, but after some they had together, and even some they had apart. There wasn't an order of operations, or a set way it happened. They just knew somehow, that the other needed it. It was funny to think that not long ago Kate had been using his bow and his name, without knowing the man at all. But when she did come to know Clint Barton, it was hard not to like him. From the moment she overhead his words on the balcony, she wanted to be better, for the Young Avengers to be better, to be worthy of his faith in them. It was easier now, now that they could rely on each other equally.

She could feel the rise and fall of his chest against her, his slow even breaths betraying his state of deep sleep. He always slept deeper with her here, and it made her wonder if he was like this with Jessica, or Natasha, or Bobbi. Was it because he knew there was someone there to protect him? Or was it different because she wasn't sleeping with him except in the most literal sense? She stopped herself before she went down that path (questioning their relationship, wondering if Jessica knew, worrying about being on the receiving end of one of her venom blasts) She shook her head to clear out the thoughts and moved into a more comfortable position before drifting off again.

 

...

 

He woke up feeling refreshed and calm, and didn't have to think back or look over to know who was in his bed.

Clint wasn't much for words, but he could write essays on the greatness of Kate Bishop. She was so much like him, but to say that was all she was wouldn't do her justice. She was brave, she was smart, she was talented. He was so, so glad that neither of them wanted to have sex with the other, but he had been wrong about not wanting to sleep with her. He loved their adventures, don't get him wrong, but it's so often he craves her next to him, in a big pile of blankets. Their nest, he had once joked, because he couldn't help himself. He had expected an eye roll, but instead he got a full body laugh, and he could feel his happiness like warmth down to his toes.

Sleeping next to someone who could kill as easily as blink wasn't new for him, but for some reason he never felt safer, never slept better, than he did next to Katie. Sometimes he wonders if he should ask her to move in, so that every night he spent in this bed could be this good. It hurts a little to remember that she has a whole life outside of him, not that she shouldn't. And he has a life outside of her. He has his day job, he has Jess. He doesn't think she would like the idea of Clint occasionally sharing a bed with a teenager, much less regularly. But rather than dwell on what he can't have, he brought himself back to the present, his arms full of his favourite archer. She was just waking up, stretching out and yawning.

"Morning Hawkeye,"

"Morning Hawkeye, breakfast?"

"I think I saw some Chinese in the fridge."

"Wanna eat it on the couch and watch Dog Cops?"

"Sounds great"

He reached over to the nightstand to turn off his phone. The world could wait to be saved in favour of a few more hours of cuddling with Kate Bishop.


End file.
